2 Comments

General CommentThis song really only makes sense in the context of the album, which also includes Disappoint, which is about his father's suicide. I think this song is a related discussion on what happened to Tom internally.

The subject of this song has "built a prison in [his] own subconscious." He has turned in on himself, torturing himself in self-doubt and existentialism. The fast beat only serves to show the madness that comes with this kind of suffering.

General Comment"Some seek control
By grabbing hold of their lives
In a futile attempt
To help themselves survive"

Existentialism and a "carpe diem" sort of thinking may not be able to help everything, but I think they do a great deal to make you happier and allow you to live a fuller, healthier life. That has certainly been my experience, at least. So I'm not sure what is meant by that all being "a futile attempt". Existentialism can't stop fate from hurting you, but it usually help you recover from the hit.

"I dig myself
Into a much deeper hole
Running from a fate
That I can never control"

So I'm not sure what Damocles means, in saying the subject of the song is "torturing himself in self-doubt and existentialism", because it appears to me that the subject of the song does not live or think in existentialist terms. I may just have a poor understanding of existentialist philosophy, though. I've always related the way I think to existentialism, and my system provides for the world sometimes being an uncaring destroyer of people.

"The only way I know
To shake myself of this curse
Is to bring myself to something
That is measurably worse"

This line makes me believe Tom is speaking about ideals, thoughts and perspectives we hold too. As many of us find out through our lives, some of our ideals don't match well with the real world and often can leave us bitter and scarred. Yet, we often cling to them because view the alternative of astronomically worse.